Operation Petanque (2021)

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Laos has the unfortunate title of being the most bombed country in history. The US dropped 270 million cluster munitions on Laos during the Vietnam War between 1964 – 1973. It is estimated that 80 million cluster bombs did not detonate on impact (UXO), remaining a persistent threat to civilians to this day. The BLU-26 cluster bomb was mostly used, each one contains 250-300 steel pellets, on detonation it is designed to disperse over a wide area to inflict maximum casualties. The majority of UXO casualties are children as they're attracted to the toy-like objects or mistaken them for Petanque boules (a popular game in Laos). 

Here are some stats:

Over 20,000 people killed or injured by UXO in Laos after the bombing ended in 1973

Of the 80 million UXO, only 1% have been cleared

That’s 10 UXO for every 1 person in Laos

That’s 1 UXO for every 3-metre squared of land in Laos

“And the bombing had not stopped. At that very moment, I realized, Lao people alive today would be bombed to death tomorrow. In Laos I realized that I had discovered a crime as unacceptable as Auschwitz – while the unprovoked murder of civilians was still going on. Without any conscious decision, I soon found myself committed to doing whatever I could to stop the bombing by exposing it to the world.”                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                              – Fred Branfman  

In Operation Petanque, Quinn aims to raise awareness of UXO in Laos through his multipiece installation, exploring concepts of activism, strategic games, and aesthetics; all with an underlining sinister tone of cluster bombs. Each piece is hand made and rigorously glaze tested for individual unique look. The process begins with a drawing design replicating the actual BLU-26 cluster bomb created in Rhinoceros software. The design (1/4 section) is then 3D printed, a plaster mould made, the 1/4 section slip cast, then assembled together by hand and blended into one piece. Each bomb then goes through several firing and many layers of glazes applied depending on the desired effect for each individual bomb. The process from start to finish takes 2-3 weeks.